(Reuters) – Australia paceman Mitchell Johnson shook up India just before lunch last night by taking a wicket and striking captain Virat Kohli on the head as the tourists reached 117 for two at the break on day three of the first test in Adelaide.
Australia declared their innings closed at 517-7 before the start of play and India’s batsmen prospered for much of a sunny morning on a benign Adelaide Oval wicket.
The menacing left-armer Johnson had a wayward spell with the new ball early but came back with a vengeance to break an 81-run partnership between Murali Vijay and number three batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.
Johnson teased a nick from Vijay into the slips to remove the opener for 53 and welcomed stand-in skipper Kohli with a nasty short ball that struck him flush on the badge on his helmet.
With the death of Phillip Hughes from a bouncer still fresh in all minds at Adelaide Oval, the Australians rushed forward out of concern for Kohli and Clarke consoled Johnson as the paceman walked back to his mark visibly distressed.
Kohli was unharmed, however, and survived to lunch on three, with Pujara 34 not out at the other end.
Seamer Ryan Harris, back in the side after a long recovery following knee surgery, took an early wicket by bowling opener Shikhar Dhawan who had raced to 25.
Harris sent in a probing delivery that nipped back a fraction to catch an inside edge and cannoned into the stumps.
Vijay and Pujara then frustrated the bowlers for much of the morning, with the opener taking to offspinner Nathan Lyon, clubbing him for a six over his head and a four with the same shot on the next ball.
Vijay whipped three runs off his pads from Harris to raise his half-century shortly before lunch.
A lunging Mitchell Marsh, fielding in the slips in place of Clarke, earlier missed a half-chance when Johnson coaxed a nick from Vijay that rocketed between the all-rounder and Steven Smith when the batsman was on 11.
Yesterday, injured Australia captain Clarke completed an inspiring century after lunch on day two having returned to the crease following pain-killing injections on his back.
The 33-year-old flicked a single off his pads to bring up the milestone on a rainy afternoon and was given a standing ovation by the Adelaide Oval crowd.
Clarke’s 128 was a record seventh ton by a player at Adelaide Oval and came after centuries to his New South Wales team mates David Warner (145) and Steven Smith (162 not out).
It was also the skipper’s fourth in succession in tests at the ground, a streak of dominance dating back to an imperious 210 against the same opponents, and left him with a Bradman-esque average of 100.50 in Adelaide.
“He just came out and played beautifully,” Smith told reporters. “I think a few shots hurt him but he got himself into as many good positions as he could I guess manipulated the field a little bit as well so he played beautifully under the circumstances.”
Though Warner and Smith both looked up to the sky in tribute to their fallen team mate Phillip Hughes, Clarke’s celebration was more muted, raising his bat to acknowledge the applause before kissing the crest on his helmet.
He was on 60 on Tuesday when he retired hurt after twisting to avoid a short ball.
The injury immediately raised doubt over his playing the rest of the four-match series as well as his ability to lead Australia into the 50-over World Cup early next year.
Clarke was only playing after coming through a fitness test on a third hamstring strain in three months, problems which are related to his long-term degenerative back injury.
Though helped by some inconsistent bowling from India and a flat wicket, he was in clear discomfort as he battled to the ton, grimacing after certain shots and running slowly between the wickets.
Team physio Alex Kountouris said the skipper was struggling with “quite a significant back injury” related to his spinal discs but had been determined to “give it a go”.
It emerged Clarke had hardly slept, having been worked on by staff for most of the night, a point underlined by the tired sweep shot that saw him caught at square leg late in the day.
Scoreboard
Australia 1st innings (Overnight: 517-7)
C. Rogers c Dhawan b I. Sharma 9
D. Warner c I. Sharma b K. Sharma 145
S. Watson c Dhawan b Aaron 14
M. Clarke c Pujara b K. Sharma 128
S. Smith not out 162
M. Marsh c Kohli b Aaron 41
N. Lyon b Shami 3
B. Haddin c Saha b Shami 0
M. Johnson not out 0
Extras (lb-4 nb-2 w-9) 15
Total (for 7 wickets declared, 120 overs) 517
Fall of wickets: 1-50 C. Rogers,2-88 S. Watson,3-258 D. Warner,4-345 M. Marsh,5-352 N. Lyon,6-354 B. Haddin,7-517 M. Clarke
Did not bat: P. Siddle, R. Harris
Bowling M. Shami 24 – 2 – 120 – 2(w-1) V. Aaron 23 – 1 – 136 – 2(nb-2 w-3) I. Sharma 27 – 5 – 85 – 1(w-1) K. Sharma 33 – 1 – 143 – 2 M. Vijay 13 – 3 – 29 – 0
India 1st innings
M. Vijay c Haddin b Johnson 53
S. Dhawan b Harris 25
C. Pujara not out 34
V. Kohli not out 3
Extras (lb-3 nb-1) 4
Total (for 2 wickets, 32 overs) 119
Fall of wickets: 1-30 S. Dhawan,2-111 M. Vijay
To bat: A. Rahane, R. Sharma, W. Saha, K. Sharma, M. Shami, I. Sharma, V. Aaron
Bowling M. Johnson 8 – 3 – 38 – 1(nb-1) R. Harris 9 – 2 – 20 – 1 N. Lyon 5 – 1 – 34 – 0 P. Siddle 5 – 2 – 19 – 0 M. Marsh 5 – 2 – 5 – 0 Referees Umpire: Marais Erasmus
Umpire: Ian Gould
TV umpire: Mick Martell
Match referee: Jeff Crowe
